The information content displayed on a graphical user interface (GUI) either incorporated into portable electronic devices or user interface control devices, such as remote controls continues to grow. These devices generally incorporate a joystick or a mouse button for navigating the information content. The joystick or the mouse button uses a mouse-pointing sensor. The sensor detects moving direction and intensity in relation to force supplied by the user onto the joystick or the mouse button. Signals generated by the mouse-pointing sensor are conditioned and processed by on-board logic to activate a pointer displayed by the GUI. However, navigating the information content, such as address lists, photos, and music content by having to click up and down buttons to search the lists is sometimes inefficient and annoying.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,554,167 to Vaganov describes one type of sensor, applicable to portable electronic devices, that utilizes a silicon strain gauge die with a boss. Typically, the silicon strain gauge die is sensitive to lateral forces applied to a tip of the boss. The boss transmits the force to a thinned region of the die where strain sensitive elements produce an electrical signal corresponding to the applied lateral force. The various embodiments incorporate an extension such as a post, a wire, or a spring that is fixedly bonded to the tip of the boss to create a user interface and extend the height of the device. U.S. Pat. No. 7,476,952 to Vaganov et al. further describes embodiments based on a strain sensitive die and utilizing various shaped interfaces to permit the user to apply a force signal to the die. Both U.S. Pat. No. 7,554,167 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,476,952 are incorporated into this disclosure by reference. What the prior art, including the two referenced patents, fail to address is that silicon strain gauge die are easily broken when overloaded. It is an objective of this invention to create a human interface device which is protected from overloads, thus making it reliable. It is a further objective of this invention to make the human interface device low profile, so that it fits into a wide variety of electronic devices. It is yet a further objective of this invention to minimize the number and the complexity of the components of the human interface device, thus rendering it to be potentially low cost to manufacture. Other benefits of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.